Strap anchor and belt rail mounting arrangement

ABSTRACT

A railway vehicle side wall is provided having inwardly opening vertical wall posts into which are attached a strap anchor mounting plate having a recessed portion providing a mounting point for a strap anchor rail. The strap anchor rail has a plurality of spaced mounting legs attached to the recessed portion of the attaching plate and includes a plurality of spaced inwardly turned strap anchor flanges for attachment of lading restraining strap means. The strap anchor rail also includes opening means for mounting longitudinally extending belt rail members which are attached to a mounting post which is then fastened to the strap anchor rail.

United States Patent 1 Snyder et al.

[ Dec. 10, 1974 STRAP ANCHOR AND BELT RAIL MOUNTING ARRANGEMENT [75] Inventors: Richard C. Snyder, Michigan City;

William D. Mundinger, Highland, both of Ind.

[73] Assignee: Pullman Incorporated, Chicago, 111.

[22] Filed: June 21, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 372,460

3,585,942 6/1971 Shaver 105/369 A X Primary ExaminerLloyd L. King Assistant ExaminerGene A. Church Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Richard J. Myers [57] ABSTRACT A railway vehicle side wall is provided having inwardly opening vertical wall posts into which are attached a strap anchor mounting plate having a recessed portion providing a mounting point for a strap anchor rail. The strap anchor rail has a plurality of spaced mounting legs attached to the recessed portion of the attaching plate and includes a plurality of spaced inwardly turned strap anchor flanges for attachment of lading restraining strap means. The strap anchor rail also includes opening means for mounting longitudinally extending belt rail members which are attached to a mounting post which is then fastened to the strap anchor rail.

5 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures IL 30 0 2a STRAP ANCHOR AND BELT RAIL MOUNTING ARRANGEMENT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention pertains to devices used for restraining cargo inside a railway vehicle by use of transversely extending straps or bars and in particular to the vehicle mounted attaching means for these straps or bars.

2. Description of the Prior Art Prior art strap anchor arrangements, which in some instances such as the Adler US. Pat. No. 3,147,059 discloses a vertically extending strap anchor rail, do not provide a mounting means for a belt rail assembly in the event the car owner should wish to convert from the strap anchor to a belt rail and cross bar cargo restraining system. Prior art cargo restraining devices do not provide the flexibility and mounting of belt rail units which is provided by the present invention through the use of slotted strap anchor rails to allow for selective vertical positioning of belt rail units or a belt rail assembly.

SUMMARY This invention pertains to cargo restraining devices used in railway freight vehicles and in particular to a strap anchor which is received within the wall posts of a freight vehicle and contains vertically spaced key hole apertures providing mounting and attaching points for belt rails.

In use within the freight carrying vehicle the strap anchor and belt rail units of the present invention may be attached within the inwardly opening hollow portion of a vertical wall post, thereby increasing the sectional area of the wall post and providing additional strength to the side wall unit. By providing a strap anchor rail having attaching leg portions, thereby spacing a strap attaching part of the rail above the associated mounting plate and inwardly turning the strap anchor attaching flanges, a smooth surface is provided for attachment of strapping. By inwardly turning the attaching flanges, additional strength is provided to the strap anchor rail and the associated side wall posts. The strap anchor rails are positioned within each of the vertical wall posts of the vehicle and include vertically spaced key hole openings to provide for selectively positioning of belt rail units or preassembled belt rail assemblies. This belt rail combination provides the vehicle with flexibility in adapting to various articles which require engagement by retaining means or straps at different levels.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a cargo restraining means on a railway vehicle whereby the strap anchors 'are received within a vertical wall post and securely mounted to an attachment plate which is recessed within the vertical wall post thereby providing a smooth side wall interior when the strap anchor attaching rail is attached to the car.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a lading strap anchor mounting plate which is attached within the inwardly opening portion of a vertical wall post, thereby providing a vertically extending box beam to each wall post and increasing the strength of the associated side wall unit.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a cargo restraining device whereby a strap anchor includes a plurality of apertures vertically spaced along its height thereby providing attachment points for longitudinally extending belt rails which may be selectively positioned vertically within the vehicle to satisfy restraining requirement of various cargos.

' Another object of the present invention is to provide a belt rail attaching bracket having a plurality of slotted openings spaced along its length and corresponding to the spacing of the key slot openings within the associated strap anchor rails, thereby providing a belt rail attaching bracket allowing preassembly of a plurality of belt rails followed by subsequent ease of assembly into a freight vehicle.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from reference to the following description, attached drawings and appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS .FIG. 1 is a pictorial illustration of a portion of a railway vehicle side wall showing the attachment and positioning of the strap anchor and belt rail units involved with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view taken generally along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2 and showing a DF bar in position;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the strap anchor rail and associated belt rail attaching members with portions removed for purposes of clarity; and

FIG. 5 is an exploded pictorial illustration similar to the view of FIG. I.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference now to the drawings and in particular to FIG. 1, there is shown a side wall unit 10 of a railway freight vehicle including the usual vertically extending wall post 12 which in this instance is a hat shaped member. The wall post 12 has a pair of spaced laterally extending flanges 13 which extend outwardly from the main body portion of the wall post. Attached to the laterally extending flanges 13 are the vehicle side wall sheets 14 which extend between adjacent wall posts 12 and between the floor and roof units of the vehicle.

Positioned within the open portion of the hat shaped wall post 12 is a mounting plate 16 having a pair of spaced attachment flanges 17 in communication with the associated flanges 13 of each vertical wall post 12. A base portion 17a is connected to flanges 17 by means of the inclined portions 17b which also serve as strap guides to aid in threading a flexible strap into an associated strap anchor. The mounting plate 16 may be welded to the wall post flanges 13 to provide a rigid attachment between these two members. As noticed in FIGS. 1 and 2, the mounting plate 16 includes an in wardly extending portion which is recessed within the open portion of the associated wall post 12.

Mounted within the recessed portion of each mounting plate 16 is a strap anchor rail designated by the numeral l8 and'extending generally the height of the inside of the freight vehicle. The strap anchor rail 18 is contemplated as being a continuous member but may be a composite of smaller joined sections. Each rail 18 includes a plurality of attachment and mounting legs 19 extending from base portion 19a which are welded to the associated mounting plate 16. Positioned between each of the strap anchor legs 19 are strap anchor attachment openings which are formed by rolled over flange portions 20 which are formed integrally with the strap anchor rail 18. These rolled over attachment portions 20 have inwardly bent ends to provide smooth attachment points for flexible strapping and eliminate the objectionable sharp edges which often result in cutting and tearing of attached lading straps. Additionally, these rolled over attaching flanges 20 provide an increased section area to the strap anchor rail and therefore retain the integral strength of the strap anchor rail which would otherwise be lowered had these rolled over attaching portions 20 been removed to provide openings for the insertion of lading retainer straps. When attaching a flexible strap about the attaching flanges the adjacent mounting plate 16 will serve as a strap guide in directing the strap into the strap opening and around the strap anchor portions 20.

As best illustrated in FIG. 5, the strap anchor rails 18 include a plurality of vertically spaced key slot openings 21 having the usually rounded aperture portions and including a depending rectangular cutout 22. The key slot opening is a convenient configuration providing for insertion of a mechanical fastener followed by subsequent movement of the fastener shank into the depending rectangular cut-out 22 and tightening of the fastener for securely attaching a member.

A belt rail attaching bar member 24 which may have a hat shaped cross section similar to the cross section of the vertical wall post 12 provides a mounting and attaching member for the longitudinally extending belt rail 28. A simple weld 2 may be used to atach the belt rail 28 to the associated attaching bar member 24. The belt rail 28 includesa multiplicity of spaced openings 30 which provide a restraining means for a DP (damage free) bar which may be inserted within the openings to restrain a cargo during transport. Mechanical fasteners 32 such as the bolts illustrated in FIG. may be inserted into the key slots 21 of the strap anchor rails 18 and subsequently inserted within the slots 26 of the attaching bars 24 for attaching the belt rails 28 securely to the side wall units. Bolts 32 may have a square shank positioned in the cutout 22 of the keyhole 21.

A feature of the present invention becomes apparent with reference to the belt rail and attaching bar 28, 24, respectively. Different lading such as automotive doors, automotive center panels, or automotive windshields each require different restraining bar arrangements because the points at which they may be contacted for efficient and reliable restraint during transport vary with the type of article being transported. It

is important to provide a means of selectively positioning belt rails 28 so that the associated DF bars 31 may be accurately positioned to contact lading at the most advantageous point for reliable restraining during transport.

. a mounting point for strap anchors which are received within the vertical wall posts and are flush with the vehicle wall sheet 14, thereby not reducing the inside transverse width of the freight vehicle. The present invention also provides for use of conventional flexible straping by providing the strap anchor rail 18 which is positioned within the side wall post recess.

By positioning these strap anchor mounting plates 16 and strap anchor rails 18 within the vertical wall post thereby closing off the open portion of a hat shaped post section, increased side wall unit strength results from the box beam produced by this assembly.

The foregoing description and drawings merely explain and illustrate the invention and the invention is not limited thereto, except insofar as the appended claims are so limited, as those skilled in the art who have the disclosure before them will be able to make modifications and variations therein without departing from the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is: l. A railway vehicle for transporting cargo restrained by flexible lading straps and rigid bar means and having a side wall unit comprising a plurality of vertically extending side wall posts connected to side wall sheets and each one of said side wall posts having an open portion facing inwardly of the railway vehicle, the improvement of said railway vehicle comprising:

an anchor mounting plate positioned in said open portion of at least one of said side wall posts, having a recessed portion extending outwardly of said vehicle and received within said open portion of its associated side wall post;

strap anchor rail means having spaced leg portions being fixedly attached to said recessed portion of the anchor mounting plate and said rail means including a base portion for interconnection said leg portions;

said strap anchor rail means having spaced turned-in flanges connected to said base portion and spaced from said leg portions, said turned-in flanges being held in spaced relation from said anchor mounting plate by said leg portions so as to define a lading strap receiving opening between said anchor mounting plate and said turned-in flanges, and each one of said turned-in flanges having end portions bent inwardly toward said base portion thereby providing a smooth rounded edge for engaging and restraining a flexible lading strap inserted into the lading strap receiving opening. 2. The invention according to claim 1, and: said base portion of said strap anchor rail means having a plurality of vertically spaced openings to re- I ceive fastening means for effecting attachment of said belt rail means. 3. The invention according to claim 1, and: each one of said vertical side wall posts having a hatshaped cross section with laterally extending flanges adapted to receive said side wall sheets;

said anchor mounting plate having flanges attached to the laterally extending flanges of its associated vertical side wall post.

4. The invention according to claim 2, and:

said belt rail means including longitudinally extending belt rail members and associated belt rail mounting plates having spaced openings adapted to align with said vertically spaced openings of the strap anchor rail means.

5. The invention according to claim 3, and:

said recessed portion of said anchor mounting plate having strap guide portions connected to said flanges thereof so as to guide a flexible lading strap into the lading strap receivingopening between said mounting plate and said turned-in flanges. 

1. A railway vehicle for transporting cargo restrained by flexible lading straps and rigid bar means and having a side wall unit comprising a plurality of vertically extending side wall posts connected to side wall sheets and each one of said side wall posts having an open portion facing inwardly of the railway vehicle, the improvement of said railway vehicle comprising: an anchor mounting plate positioned in said open portion of at least one of said side wall posts, having a recessed portion extending outwardly of said vehicle and received within said open portion of its associated side wall post; strap anchor rail means having spaced leg portions being fixedly attached to said recessed portion of the anchor mounting plate and said rail means including a base portion for interconnection said leg portions; said strap anchor rail means having spaced turned-in flanges connected to said base portion and spaced from said leg portions, said turned-in flanges being held in spaced relation from said anchor mounting plate by said leg portions so as to define a lading strap receiving opening between said anchor mounting plate and said turned-in flanges, and each one of said turned-in flanges having end portions bent inwardly toward said base portion thereby providing a smooth rounded edge for engaging and restraining a flexible lading strap inserted into the lading strap receiving opening.
 2. The invention according to claim 1, and: said base portion of said strap anchor rail means having a plurality of vertically spaced openings to receive fastening means for effecting attachment of said belt rail means.
 3. The invention according to claim 1, and: each one of said vertical side wall posts having a hat-shaped cross section with laterally extending flanges adapted to receive said side wall sheets; said anchor mounting plate having flanges attached to the laterally extending flanges of its associated vertical side wall post.
 4. The invention according to claim 2, and: said belt rail means including longitudinally extending belt rail members and associated belt rail mounting plates having spaced openings adapted to align with said vertically spaced openings of the strap anchor rail means.
 5. The invention according to claim 3, and: said recessed portion of said anchor mounting plate having strap guide portions connected to said flanges thereof so as to guide a flexible lading strap into the lading strap receiving opening between said mounting plate and said turned-in flanges. 